Depressive status moderates the association between cognitive ability and psychological resilience in young adults

Associations among cognitive ability, depressive symptoms, and psychological resilience have been found, but the interaction among these variables remains unclear, especially for young adults. The current study aimed to investigate how these variables interact in young adults. A total of 192 participants (97 female) with a mean age of 21.84 years (range 19–30 years) were analyzed for this study. Participants’ cognitive ability was assessed by the Taiwanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Depressive status was evaluated by the revision of Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II). Participants with a score of 14 or above were defined as mild-to-severe-depressed (MSD). Otherwise, they were defined as minimal-depressed (MD). For the psychological resilience measurement, a Chinese version of the Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) was used. Using linear regression adjusted for gender and age, this study found a significant interaction between cognitive ability, depressive status, and psychological resilience in young adults. Specifically, higher cognitive ability was linked to lower resilience in those with MSD, as indicated by a negative relationship (B = −6.519, p = .044). Conversely, in MD individuals, cognitive ability and resilience showed no significant correlation. These findings suggested that depressive status significantly modulates how cognitive ability impacts psychological resilience, emphasizing the importance of customizing mental health interventions based on individual cognitive and emotional profiles.